


The Ring

by wake_me_up_AV



Series: You laugh together. You love together. You cry together. [2]
Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mario Uses His Words, Marriage Proposal, So Many Damn Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 17:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8853283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wake_me_up_AV/pseuds/wake_me_up_AV
Summary: “I just don’t want to embarrass myself or Angus in front of all of these people.”Jesse smiled and put his hand back on Mario’s shoulder.“These people?? They’re your family. You laugh together. You love together. You cry together. There is nothing you can do that’ll make them love you less.”Mario smiled back at Mama, knowing that he was ready.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO, ELIZABETH!! <3
> 
> They make out (like really go at it) towards the end of the fic so if that grosses you out, when you get to Angus talking to Mario about his tie, skip the big paragraph and go to the phone call.
> 
> I didn't plan on this being 5k+ words, nor so emotionally torturous.
> 
> Anyways, have fun!!
> 
> As always, if you like it, please comment and kudos cuz it honestly makes my day.

Mario had talked to Mike first. It wasn't so much for permission as it was for reassurance. (But, also permission.)

He went up to him just before a Tuesday morning shift, hoping that he’d be able to have at least a couple minutes to talk to him before things picked up.

He walked up to the attending while he was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Can I, uh, can I talk to you for a second?”

Without batting an eyelash Mike said, “Shoot.”

Mike replaced the coffee pot into the machine and brought the mug to his face to take a sip before actually turning to Mario. His eyes fell on the stethoscope in the younger man’s hand and raised his eyebrow.

“Can we, uh, actually go up to the roof, real quick?? Please??” Mario figured that that way there’d be less of a chance of anyone, especially Angus, walking in on them.

Mike paused and looked at Mario before gesturing for him to lead the way.

Once on the roof, Mario took the opportunity to look out over the neighborhood. The sun was just beginning to rise. The sky looked so beautiful and peaceful. Mario could see the sunlight reflecting off of the churches in the surrounding area.

Mike stayed silent by his side for about 30 seconds.

“So, what’s this thing that’s so big we have to talk about it on the roof??”

Mario took a deep breath. He turned his whole body to Mike, straightened himself up, and squared his shoulders. He looked confident and ready to fight, and he would be if Mike was against him.

“I’m asking Angus to marry me at the Christmas party.”

Mike took a second to really look at the man standing before him.

“Do you promise that you’ll take care of him?? Will you be able to always be there for him, even when he says he doesn’t want you there?? Can I trust you to make him happy??”

Mario’s instant reply was a solid, “Yes.”

“I love Angus more than anything in this world. I’ll never hurt him and I will never leave his side. I will always do right by him, I promise. You can trust me.”

“Okay. But, it’s a two-way street. Will you actually be open to talking to him when things go bad?? If you leave him in the dark, you know that’ll just end up worse for both of you.”

Mario smiled softly and thought back to when his father died.

_Angus was the only person able to come within three feet of him. He had forced Mario to leave the morgue, knowing that if he didn’t, come morning, Mario would still be in the exact same  spot. Angus turned to Mario and volunteered to drive him home. He nodded his head, still looking a little shell shocked, as if he were just going through the motions._

_When they were halfway to his apartment, Mario whispered that he didn’t want to be alone. Angus took it in stride and brought Mario back to his apartment instead. He told Mario to make himself comfortable, but saw him stick to his side._

_Once they were in the kitchen Angus gestured to one of the bar stools at the island. Mario looked unsure at first and kept glancing back at him almost as if to make sure he was still there. Mario didn’t really relax until Angus started taking out pots and pans to make them dinner. He ended up making 3 boxes of pasta because he wasn’t sure how much Mario would actually eat and he figured they could have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Angus placed Mario’s bowl in front of him, himself opting to stand on the other side of the island. They ate in silence. Every so often Angus would flick his eyes up to Mario and watch him to make sure that he was actually eating._

_When it came time for them to go to sleep, Angus gave Mario one of his Angel’s t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants to change into. Angus insisted that Mario sleep in his bed and that he would take the couch. As he laid down, he turned on the tv, and waited for sleep to take over._

_In the middle of the night, Angus was woken up by the sound of Mario whimpering and crying. He shut off the TV and went in to go check on him. He opened the door a crack and stuck his head in. The blanket was pushed to the foot of the bed and it looked like the pillows were thrown to either side. Mario whimpered again._

_“Mario.” Angus whispered from the door._

_No response._

_He tried again and again there was no response. He heard Mario whimper once more before realizing that the other man was actually asleep._

_Angus pushed the door open and walked into his room. He grabbed the two pillows on his path to his bed. Angus sat down next to Mario. He put his hand on the smaller man’s arm and gently shook him. Angus could hear that Mario was still crying and could feel that he was on the verge of tears himself._

_“Mario, wake up, you’re having a nightmare.” Angus moved his hand to Mario’s shoulder and shook him slightly harder._

_The dark haired man woke with a start. He saw Angus and began to cry again. He locked his arms around Angus’s waist and sobbed, “Please don’t leave me.”_

_Angus could feel Mario’s arms tremble around him. He began to gently comb his fingers through Mario’s hair and tried to make reassuring noises._

_“I’m not going anywhere.”_

_He lowered himself further into the bed and pulled Mario onto his chest. Angus ran his hand over Mario’s back and kept repeating that he wasn’t going anywhere. Mario sobbed into Angus’s chest before finally giving into exhaustion in the early morning._

_Angus fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed Leanne. She picked up on the second ring and immediately asked how Mario was. Angus answered honestly and told her that he probably should take the day off. Leanne hesitated and then suggested that Angus take the day as well. He was shocked, but in hindsight he realized it was the best possible idea. He thought for a second and decided she was right. With instructions to “take care of Mario,”, Leanne said good night and Angus hung up. He placed his phone on the night stand and turned back towards Mario, who was still sound asleep and curled around him._

Mario raised his eyes to meet Mike’s, knowing that the attending could read everything on his face. Mike smiled and hugged Mario in congratulations as they both laughed. In the distance, they could hear sirens approaching. They broke apart and shared one last look before heading downstairs to do what they did best.

*****

He went to Mama and Daddy next.

Angus’s shift had just ended and they were blessedly in Code Green. He finished signing the discharge papers for his last patient and approached them while they were cleaning Center Stage. He grabbed a spray bottle and helped scrub down the third gurney to give himself time to put his words together.

Jesse and Leanne saw this and paused. They looked at Mario, looked at each other, and went over to stand in front of the resident.

Mario heard them move over to him, but ignored them in favor of finishing wiping down the gurney. He sighed and turned to face them, knowing he couldn't delay it any longer. He held the spray bottle in his hand and glanced at man and woman who were better parents than his ever were. They patiently waited, allowing Mario to take his time.

Mario dropped his eyes and took a deep breath. He put the bottle onto the gurney and looked back at his superiors. He steeled himself and confidently said, “I'm going to ask Angus to marry me.”

Jesse was the first to react. He yelled, “My boy!!” with pride and happiness in his voice and a smile on his face. He grabbed Mario and hauled him in for a bear hug.

Mario laughed at the nurse’s antics and chanced a glance at Dr. Rorish. She's smiling fondly at the scene before her, Mario still being crushed by Mama, who was now yelling joyously in Spanish.

She softly said, “I'm happy for you, Mario. I really am.”

Jesse released Mario and stood back as the younger man walked forward to hug Leanne. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered to him, “You’ve come a long way since you first walked through that door. I am incredibly proud of who you’ve become and what you’ve accomplished.”

Mario felt his eyes start to water as he listened to his mentor. She hugged him fiercely before letting go to wipe her own eyes.

“Well,” Leanne paused and sniffled, wiping her eyes once more. “You know you still have to talk to someone else, right?”

Mario laughed and smiled at Leanne.

“I know. Don’t worry, I already talked to Mike.”

Mama and Daddy smirked at each other. Mario’s face dropped as he realized just who they were talking about. The one person Mike and Angus didn’t talk to if it could be avoided and Mario realized it couldn’t. Mario looked back at Leanne and Jesse with panic written all over his face. Jesse took a step forward to comfort Mario.

He was so mad at himself for not even realizing that he had to talk to Angus’s father. If not to tell him that he was proposing to his son, then at least to notify him of their marriage because he was, after all, a member of the board.

*****

At the end of his shift, Mario walked towards the locker room to grab his clothes and go home, but he couldn’t stop thinking about having to talk to Angus’s dad. He frantically called Mike, trying to figure out what the correct thing to do was. Mid-third ring, someone picked up.

“Mike, I really need your help, man.”

“Mario? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Angus?”

Mario began to panic and desperately tried to figure a way to get himself out of the situation he’d just put himself in.

“Mario, are you okay?? Tell me what happened.”

Mario could hear Mike in the background telling Angus that ‘it was time to go’ before he saw that Angus had his phone. He heard Angus try to whisper ‘Mario” to Mike, but he never was good at subtlety. Mike must have realized what was going on and grabbed his phone away from his brother.

“What’s going on, Mario??” He could hear Mike’s footsteps retreating and then a door closing as he secluded himself from Angus.

“I have to tell your dad. Or, I have to ask him I guess?? I mean, do I really even have to?? I know that I have to at least talk to him eventually, otherwise-”

Mike cut off his rambling.

“Listen, me and Angus are actually about to go out to lunch with him right now. If you want, I can find a way to bring it up to him when Angus goes to the bathroom or something.”

Mario thought for a second. He knew that he should say no. He had to be the one to do it. He took a deep breath and came to his decision.

“No. No, don’t do it. I have to be the one to talk to him. I’ll just go up and see him before my shift tomorrow.”

Mario could feel the dread filling him just by even saying those words.

*****

Mario was halfway through his shift before he remembered that he had to go see Angus’s father. Honestly, it wasn’t even him who remembered.

Mike came up to him at the nurse’s station while he was filling out paperwork.

“Soooooo?? How’d that conversation go??”

Mario turned to Mike and the question he was about to ask died on his lips. He felt the pen fall from his hand as his heart started to pound.

“I, um, I may have forgotten.”

Mike saw the panic on his face and tried to calm him down.

“Mario, you will be fine. I can promise you that you will be fine. But, it’s like a Band-Aid, it’ll hurt more if you keep trying to delay it. Just rip it off and go upstairs. I’ll even cover for you if you want.”

Mario didn’t know what to do. He knew that he had to go upstairs and if he didn’t right now, he wouldn’t. Mario was thinking of using his patients as an excuse, when he saw Angus out of the corner of his eye. He was trying to take a kid’s blood pressure and was making large gestures to entertain both the child and his worried mother. He watched as Angus began to spin himself around the bed. He looked up and caught Mario’s eye. He smiled that small smile he reserved for the ones he loves and turned back to his patient. Mario felt his heart swell as he watched Angus continue with his antics.

“Yeah.” Mario said half as a sigh. He cleared his throat (and his head) and turned to Mike. “Yes, I’ll go upstairs right now.”

Mike smirked at the blush Mario could feel rising in his cheeks

*****

Mario was restless. Mr. Leighton’s secretary had said “5 minutes” almost a half hour ago. He knew that Angus’s dad was a busy man, but he hoped that he could spare a second to talk to his youngest son’s boyfriend.

Mario had taken to pacing the waiting area and was thinking about knocking for himself when the doors swung open and Mr. Leighton stuck his head out. He waved Mario into his office without so much as second glance.

Once seated opposite the man, he started to fidget again, bouncing his leg and tapping his fingers.

“Well,” Angus’s father said, clapping and breaking the silence. “Sitting here has been fun, but unless you have something important to tell me, I’m going to have to ask that you don’t waste anymore of my time or yours.”

Mario closed his eyes and thought back to downstairs; to last night; to two years ago.

He let himself be filled with joy and his love for Angus.

He opened his eyes, looked the senior-most Leighton in the face and said, “I’ll be asking Angus to marry me at the Christmas party.”

Mario wanted to cringe at how awkward he sounded, but he remained straight faced.

Mr. Leighton’s eyes narrowed, almost as if this was his first real chance to scrutinize him. Mario painfully recalled that it actually was. The first “conversation” he ever had with him was more just watching him and Angus yell back and forth for a half hour.

“Do you make him happy??”

“Yes.”

“Do you respect him??”

“Yes.”

“Does he have to tell you things twice??”

“Only to take out the garbage.”

The board member frowned in distaste at Mario’s attempt at a joke.

“It’s no secret that my children and I have never seen eye to eye, but from the changes I’ve seen in Angus, I agree with Mike. I believe that you are good for my son to be around.”

Mario didn’t fail to see his lack of directness in addressing “the situation”, as Mr. Leighton had called when he and Angus first told him of their relationship. Mario waited to see if the older man would speak again. He had paused for a second and dropped his head.

Mr. Leighton sighed in a way that can only be described as resigned. He lifted his head to look at Mario again and he looked older and more tired now.

“I’ve only ever wanted what was best for them. Both of them. I know now that I can’t protect them from everything and that I have to let them make their own decisions. They’re adults with lives of their own. But, sometimes I just wish they were my kids again, you know??”

Mario suddenly felt bad for Dr. Leighton. He did understand wanting to protect the ones you love. When Mario was younger, he would do whatever it took to stop his dad from hitting his mom, even if that meant that he was the one on the receiving end of his father’s wrath. Mario looked at the man before him with a newfound respect and understanding. The man sitting before him wasn’t a monster, he was just a dad.

“I don’t quite think your objective was to get my permission, but you have it anyway. In which case, thank you for telling me.”

Mario half-smiled and nodded his head. He thanked the man for his time and quietly excused himself, the eldest Leighton looking lost in his thoughts.

*****

As soon as Mario stepped off the elevator, Angus was pushing him back in and pulling the emergency stop.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on here??”

Mario had no idea what Angus was talking about and prayed that no one had told him. His cluelessness must have been written on his face because Angus plowed on.

“You’ve been acting distant and secretive lately. I don’t mean moping, because I know when you mope and I know how to fix it. But, this?? I don’t even know what this is!! I don’t know if this is my fault. I don’t know if something happened to you. I don’t know because you won’t even talk to me!!”

Mario could hear the anger in Angus’s voice. He desperately wanted to tell him the truth right there, but he knew that he couldn’t.

“Then, to top it all off, I find out that you’re talking to not only my brother, but my father?? What the hell, Mario??”

Angus paused. Mario could see the tears forming in Angus’s eyes.

“Are you…” Angus’s voice cracked.

The tears were now running down Angus’s face and Mario could feel that his own cheeks were damp.

Angus dropped his head and turned his back to Mario. He clenched his fists at his sides, then crossed his arms.

“If you’re going to break up with me, just do it and get it over with.”

Mario surged forward and turned Angus around. He grabbed the larger man as tight as could in an attempt to reassure him. He could feel Angus softly sobbing against his neck and could feel that his own tears were now falling freely.

“I am not breaking up with you. I promise. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’d be crazy to ever do anything to jeopardize this relationship or hurt you.”

Mario lifted Angus's face towards his own.

“I love you, Angus.”

Mario leaned in to kiss Angus as fresh tears fell down both of their faces.

They wrapped their arms around each other and just stood in the elevator for a little while longer.

Mario let go first, knowing that both of them could stay there all day. He wiped his eyes as he sniffled and saw Angus do the same.

He smiled hesitantly at Angus and felt relief flood him as Angus smiled back at him.

“I’m sorry for accusing you of wanting to break up with me.”

Mario laid his hand on Angus’s cheek and wiped away the tears still stuck to his face.

“You don’t ever have to apologize for what you think or feel.”

Angus kissed his boyfriend once more before turning off the emergency stop.

Mario grabbed Angus’s hand and squeezed it just before the doors opened and they were overwhelmed with the clamor of a Code Black.

*****

Mario had everything planned out. He triple checked his list to make sure that everything was perfect. He even helped decorate for the party to make sure that everything was exactly the same as it was two years ago. The mistletoe was placed in exactly the same spot and he had attempted to convinced Angus to wear that God awful sweater again, but was shot down. Malaya and Mike knew their roles to a T. Now, Mario’s only problem was getting there on time.

As he and Angus were getting ready for the party, Mario kept touching the box to reassure himself that it was still there. The first couple times, he was just patting his pocket. Then he kept putting his hands in his pocket and actually touching the box. Eventually, he even went as far as to take it out and look at it, just to reassure himself that it actually was still there. Just before Mario left the room, he took the box out one last time. He opened it and felt himself relax as he saw the ring.

He just wanted everything tonight to be perfect for Angus.

Mario was in the middle of struggling with his tie when he felt arms enclose his chest and cover his own hands, still holding his tie.

“You know I always end up tying it for you anyway, so why do you even try to struggle with it.”

Mario would have laughed if not for the shiver that ran up his spine as Angus started to nose at the back of his neck. Mario closed his eyes and relaxed back into Angus’s chest. Angus began to kiss a line up Mario’s neck.

“You know,” Angus started. “I don’t think anyone would mind it too terribly if we were just a little late.”

Mario was about to argue when he felt Angus nip at the shell of his ear. The words died on his tongue as he turned to kiss Angus. Mario could feel him smirk against his lips, Angus knowing that he could always get the better of the smaller man. Angus backed Mario up until he was pressed against their closet door. Mario softly gasped and Angus took the opportunity to gently bite at his lip. Angus placed his hands on Mario’s waist and his knee in between Mario’s legs and pushed his hips down. Angus began to nibble along Mario’s jaw while he moaned, thoroughly enjoying how worked up Mario was over just a few kisses.

Mario’s phone rang from across the room. His eyes flew open as he remembered why they couldn’t be late. He pushed Angus off of him before his resolve wore off. Mario could feel himself breathing heavily as he rushed to grab his phone.

“Hello??”

“I’m going to graciously ignore the fact that you’re now 20 minutes late and that you sound like you were just making out with my brother.”

Mario opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Mike.

“Don’t make excuses or thank me. Just get here.”

Mario was met with a dial tone as he tried to think of a response. He turned around to face Angus and let out a low whistle.

Mario loved seeing Angus in normal clothes. For as great as he looked in scrubs, he looked amazing in everything else. He was wearing the navy blue suit that Mario had bought him for his birthday. He left his jacket open to show his tucked in white button-up with the top two buttons undone. Mario loved the confidence that Angus exuded.

Angus called out to Mario and raised an eyebrow.

Oh, yeah, the phone call.

“Mike says hurry up.”

Angus smirked, knowing that Mario had sounded breathless when he picked up the phone. Mario rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, knowing exactly where his mind went.

“Later.” He admonished and then laughed.

Angus laughed in response before holding up the tie in his hands. “So, I guess we don’t have time to do your tie.”

Mario shook his head, silently wondering when Angus had gotten it off his neck.

“Good. This doesn’t match anyway.”

He threw the tie onto their bed and crossed the room. He tucked Mario’s black shirt back into his pants for him. Angus reached behind him to grab one of his pocket squares from their bureau. He folded it twice and gently tucked it into Mario’s breast pocket. He took a step back to admire his handiwork.

“Perfect.”

Angus smiled softly at Mario.

Mario felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He smiled back and took a step forward to kiss his boyfriend one last time.

“Okay, now we really have to go.”

*****

Mario pulled Angus through the door to the party, knowing that all eyes would be on them. He had texted Mike when they were five minutes out to give everyone a heads up and to make sure that no one was still talking about it when they got there.

“Better late than never, little brother.”

Mario felt Angus drop his hand as he hugged his brother and laughed. Mike turned to Mario and hugged him as well. As he was letting go, he whispered, “Good luck.”

Mario tried to confidently nod back at him, but he knew that he fell short. His heart was racing. He put his hand in his pocket and began to play with the box again.

Angus grabbed his other hand and began to pull him to go talk to Malaya. Mario stayed silent as Angus and Malaya talked, only nodding every so often. He kept his hand in his pocket and tried to remember what he was going to say.

Mario felt a hand come down on his shoulder and jumped. He closed the ring box and took his hand from his pocket as he turned to talk to Mama.

“Walk with me.”

Mario turned to let Angus know where he was going before realizing that him and Malaya were deeply immersed in a conversation about Star Wars. Mario smiled and followed Mama as he walked to the other side of the room.

Jesse stopped just before the mistletoe. He turned to look Mario in the eye.

“Tell your Mama the truth. How do you feel??”

Mario paused to think.

He wasn’t really worried, so much as he was nervous. He already knew that Angus would say yes. They’ve had plenty of hypothetical conversations over the years. Angus was actually the one to insist that Mario be the one to propose. He said that he was happy with whatever their relationship was and didn’t want Mario to feel like he was rushed or pressured into something he didn’t want.

Mario also knew that he had the perfect ring.

A couple months ago, one of the links in his watch had broken so he had brought it to a jeweler to get it fixed. While Mario was talking with one of the associates about his watch, from the corner of his eye he could see Angus looking intently at one of the display cases. Once the associate had directed him over to another counter, he paused to ask the woman if she could nonchalantly talk to Angus about what he was looking at. She glanced in the direction Mario had pointed out and her face softened.

“Sweetie, he’s looking at wedding rings.”

Without even knowing it, she had planted the seed in Mario’s head.

He looked back at the man he loved. He turned back to the woman with a smile and said, “That’s fine. Just please let me know if there’s anything in there that he says he wants.”

Mario saw the second it clicked in her head. Her face went from confusion to understanding as she walked away.

Mario already knew that he would rather get a tattoo on his ring finger than have an actual ring, so he didn’t worry about having to find one to match whatever Angus’s chose. Besides, Angus was actually able to keep track of small things and Mario wanted something more permanent for himself.

Mario looked back at Mama.

“I just don’t want to embarrass myself or Angus in front of all of these people.”

Jesse smiled and put his hand back on Mario’s shoulder.

“These people?? They’re your family. You laugh together. You love together. You cry together. There is nothing you can do that’ll make them love you less.”

Mario smiled back at Mama, knowing that he was ready.

He hugged Jesse before backing up to stand underneath the mistletoe.

Mario took out his phone and texted Mike and Malaya, letting them both know that he was ready. He looked up and saw Mike nod at him from across the room. From his side, Willis gave him a thumbs up. Mario nodded in acknowledgement.

Malaya and Angus walked over to him, still engrossed in their conversation about Star Wars. Mario couldn’t help but smile at his dork. Angus kissed Mario and wrapped an arm around his waist once he was standing next to him. Malaya glanced at Mario. He nodded, giving her the signal to walk away. Malaya excused herself to go grab some more eggnog, squeezing Mario’s arm as she walked past him.

Angus turned to Mario and wrapped his other arm around his boyfriend. “Alone again at last.”

Mario huffed, knowing that they were the farthest thing from alone. He looked around Angus and caught Mike’s eye. Mario took Angus’s arm from around his waist and held his hand before nodding at the older Leighton.

Mike called out from across the room, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Angus. Trying for a repeat??”

Angus felt his face scrunch in confusion as Mike smirked and pointed to the ceiling above him. He looked up and saw a sprig of mistletoe taped right above where him and Mario were standing.

“Huh, look at tha..."

Angus felt his stomach and jaw drop. He had smiled and huffed a laugh at the memory of their first kiss. He looked at Mario to share the moment before realizing that his boyfriend was no longer standing in front of him. He was down on one knee holding a small, black box.

Angus could feel his breathing pick up.

“You’ve called me on my shit since day one and you’ve stayed with me, right by my side the entire time. When I first met you, I was so frustrated at you. You knew anything and everything, but you just wouldn’t trust yourself. Emergency medicine literally runs in your family and I just kept waiting for someone to tell me that I was in the wrong place. It took a while for both of us to come to terms with who we actually were and I am so glad that you listened to yourself and became the confident and intelligent doctor that you are today. You helped me through so much more than you even know and I am so grateful for you to have been in my life. I am a better person now than I ever was and I know that it’s because of you. You make me want to _be_ a better person just because you think I can.”

Mario paused and opened the box without breaking eye contact.

“I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else and I know that I could never love another person how I love you. Angus Leighton, will you marry me??”

The entire room was silent, anxiously awaiting Angus’s response.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what Mario was hoping for.

“Babe, the box is empty.”

“What?! No way.”

Mario turned the box to himself in a panic and stood up. He felt his heart and face fall as he saw that, yes, the box was empty. He frantically tried to remember where the ring could possibly be and glanced at Angus before dropping his face, hoping that the other man wasn't upset.

Angus smiled and laughed. He cupped Mario's face and forced him to look at him and not at the empty ring box.

“I don't care about a ring. I love you and that's all that matters. So, _yes_ , I _will_ marry you.”

The room erupted into cheers.

Mario's face broke into a smile matching Angus’s. He placed his hands on Angus’s hips and pulled him closer as Angus brought their faces closer.

“I love you.” Mario whispered. Angus smiled softly and closed the gap to kiss his fiancé.

**Author's Note:**

> Do you know where the ring is??


End file.
